The Dance
by RowArk
Summary: Inspired by SVU's #LastDance, this story picks up where "Downloaded Child" left off, and flows into the return of William Lewis
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_7:00am_

Olivia woke with a startle to the shrill buzz of her alarm clock. The sun streamed onto her face as she squinted her eyes and rolled over to escape it. Her head was pounding. She blinked a couple times to bring herself into full consciousness, and quickly began to realize that Brian's side of the bed was empty, unslept in.

She sighed as memories of the night before began to stomp out that early morning just-woke-up bliss and knock her back into reality. She never expected that the first time she and Brian would exchange "I love yous", would be the night that they called it quits. It was a long time coming, and they both knew that, but that knowledge didn't alleviate the sick, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Her head was still pounding as she sat up in bed. She could hear Brian rustling around in the kitchen. He had opted to sleep on the couch the night before.

Olivia swung her feet over the side of the bed and heard a clink as her toes knocked over the two empty wine bottles on the floor.

_Well, that explains the headache_, Olivia thought to herself as she picked up the bottles. It was such a familiar thing to her now, picking up empty bottles, what with the stress of her job, and Brian being away so much… She had so much time alone with her thoughts, and she quickly realized that being alone in her own head was not a pleasant place to be.

She quickly showered and dressed, and headed out into the kitchen, secretly hoping that Brian had already left.

"Hey," he said, tentatively. He had on his coat and an overnight bag slung over his shoulder. Olivia quickly noticed his suitcase by the door.

"You ok?"

"Yeah," she lied. "Where are you going?"

"I, uh, talked to Tucker this morning. He's reassigning me to another case, undercover in Brooklyn. I'll be there a while, they're putting me up in a hotel. I figure that will give me some time to find another place, or whatever… are you sure you're ok?"

"Brian, I'm fine. I gotta get to the station… I, um, I'll talk to you later."

Brian just nodded, and moved out of the way to let Olivia out the door. Olivia marveled at how odd it was that someone you were once so close to, can feel like a stranger, almost instantly.

Throughout her commute to the station, Olivia still couldn't shake that nagging gut feeling that something wasn't right. She tried to blame it on the break up, or the hangover, but the closer she got to the station, the more she felt like she might just vomit.

When she got inside, she noticed Nick standing beside his desk, nose buried in a case file. He seemed oblivious to the phone ringing behind him. Olivia walked over and clicked the speaker button.

"Manhattan SV-" she started.

"_Morning, sunshine"_

Olivia's heart stopped. She knew that voice anywhere. It was the one that haunted her nightmares. Lewis.

Nick turned to look at her, confused. "Liv? What's wrong?"

Olivia gasped at the sound of Nick's voice, and looked at him with wide eyes, "You… didn't?"

"Liv, what? I didn't what?" Nick put the file down and looked more concerned.

Olivia looked back at the phone, the line had gone dead. Lewis must have hung up already.

"Nick, didn't you hear that? When I answered the phone, I swear, I heard Lewis's voice!"

"Liv, I didn't even hear it ring… are you sure? I mean, it can't be Lewis. You know it can't be," Nick tried to reassure her.

Olivia's breathing started to slow down. _Nick's right, it can't be him. I've gotta be hearing things._

"You're right, you know-uh… I had a rough night… me and Brian… uh, you know what, never mind, I'm fine. You're right, I'm just stressed, it can't be him," Olivia tried to force a smile.

"Hey, I'll call over to Rikers and make sure that he still doesn't have phone privileges, ok?" Nick offered. Olivia nodded, and headed into her office and shut the door.

_This is gonna be a long day._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_9:00am_

In her office, Olivia searched through her desk drawers for her missing bottle of aspirin, her head still pounding. Waves of nausea kept coming over her, brought on by the anxiety of what she thought she heard on the phone minutes earlier.

_Liv, get it together._

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. She could feel a panic attack coming on, and she knew this wasn't the time to let emotions overtake her. The last thing she needed was Nick, or worse, Rollins, walking in to see her freaking out. She needed to show them she was a strong leader, no matter what.

A knock at her door startled Olivia back into the present moment, and she looked up to see Nick and Amanda rush in. It was all she could do to hide her annoyance.

"Hey, Liv, we have a situation-" Nick started.

"it's BX9, again, they've got a hostage, and they only want to negotiate with SVU." Rollins finished. Olivia couldn't put her finger on why exactly she was so put off by her these days. She hated seeing Nick and Amanda working so closely, so often. In a way, their stubbornness and disregard for protocols reminded her of herself and Stabler in the past. Perhaps it was a hint of jealousy, in knowing that part of her life was over.

"What do they want?" Olivia asked, taking the case file from Nick.

"Specifically? You," Nick stated, matter-of-factly, "I guess they feel like you called them out before. They've got a hostage in an old warehouse, a girl, probably about 12, we don't know who she is yet. They said they want to make a deal, trade you for her."

Olivia nodded and stood up to head for the door.

"Liv!", Nick stepped in front of her, "you can't _do _it. They want to kill you."

"What am I supposed to do, let them kill a child?" Olivia stared at Nick, dumbfounded. _What was he thinking?_

"No, obviously. NYPD's already got the place surrounded, they've got negotiations started. We need to get you under protective detail."

"Not a chance," Olivia shook her head, handing the case file back to Nick, "I'm getting my vest on and I'm going over there. BX9 wants a fight, I'm gonna bring it."

Nick stared at Olivia in disbelief. She had always been Badass Benson, but he hadn't failed to notice how reckless she had started being with her own life as of late.

"Oh, Nick," Liv turned back, "did you call over to Rikers?"

"Yeah, don't worry, it wasn't him. He still doesn't have phone privileges, it's fine."

"Alright, thanks," Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, and felt that anxious knot in her stomach start to unravel for the first time that morning. She turned her focus onto BX9 and the hostage situation, as she headed into the locker room to get her vest on.

Before she left the locker room, her phone started to ring. She looked down at the screen to see _RESTRICTED NUMBER._

"What the hell?" she mumbled to herself, wondering if perhaps someone in BX9 had managed to get a hold of her cell number, and decided to skip the negotiations and call her directly.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby." Olivia froze at the sound of Lewis's voice on the phone, for the second time this morning. She felt the panic coming on, as her heart started to pound.

_Oh God, oh God, this isn't happening._

She couldn't speak, she could barely breathe.

"Still there, Sergeant Benson? Don't hang up, we've got a lot to talk about. Are you alone?"

The room seemed to be getting darker, as the panic got stronger. "Yes," she managed to choke out.

"Good. Now listen, I have a little story to tell you. See, I made some friends here at Rikers Island. They're a tightknit little gang that likes to call themselves BX9, maybe you've heard of them? They've sure heard of you. Now, my new friends and I, we have something in common – or should I say, someone? Want to take any guesses who that might be? No? Well, that's ok. But here's the deal: you're going to go into that warehouse, alone. Unarmed. And when you get inside, there's going to be a surprise waiting for you. And you better not tell a soul, because I've got a guy with a loaded gun on that little girl's head, and he's got an itchy trigger finger. Have fun, sunshine."

_Click._


End file.
